Autistic Teacher Accommodations

Hi Marian, 

Thank you for posting to the online community and congratulations on your diagnosis. The NAS has advice and guidance on reasonable adjustments which you may find useful: 

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/employment/what-are-reasonable-adjustments-and-when-can-they

I hope this helps. 

Gina Mod 

I am not a Teacher.  However, I often work in commercial roles where I need to deliver training to people beyond my Team (about our project / product / third party applications and the technical changes we are implementing which will alter the work processes of both other people and their interfacing teams).

When I was looking around for suggestions for reasonable adjustments in support of educators / trainers; I found this document published (2024) by Thirdspace Scotland's National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT - a partnership based at Queen Margaret University), "Beyond Accommodations: Supporting Autistic
Professionals in Education (Practice based guide for employers and employees)", which I found included some practical considerations (I found useful: "Appendix 3: Information on reasonable adjustments
for a neurodivergent employee"):

https://ndconnection.co.uk/resources/p/beyond-accommodations-supporting-autistic-professionals-in-education-practice-based-guide-for-employers-and-employees.

I thought:

- there were some items suggested which were things an Autistic professional could manage / implement by themselves (as part of Self Care),

- with some education / advocacy; there were also things of which aware colleagues could be mindful and helpful, plus

- some ideas where more considerate management procedures could be more supportive.

I’m a primary school teacher and I don’t feel that any of the suggested accommodations I’ve seen online are practicable. I struggle when my routine is upset but stuff happens that nobody can control or predict. I don’t have to do assemblies or inter-house events which are too noisy and crowded but I do have to go to church services (Catholic school) and playground duties which can also be noisy and crowded. I don’t have to meet parents in parent teacher meetings (I’m a PPA cover teacher not a class teacher) but I do have to when I am on the gate or when I dismiss a class. I don’t feel that I can ask not to do those things because it wouldn’t be fair on the other teachers if I get out of them and they have to do my share.
But I REALLY struggle when the timetable changes and if I have to teach to someone else’s planning rather than mine. End of term is particularly hard because extra events happen and I end up crying in the car park at the end of the day. 
Sorry, this hasn’t been at all helpful to you but I do understand how you feel. My head is supportive but just doesn’t understand and i simply don’t know what he could do to help.

Hi Marian,

I'm 44 and have been teaching for 16 years in a state school. I've never had a formal diagnosis, but I know I am an Autistic person. I think in the early part of my teaching career, I coped well with teaching but as I've got older and masking has become more difficult, there has definitely been more times when I haven't been able to cope.

Like you, I like the rigid structure with periods lasting specified minutes and every week it's the same. I also enjoy teaching my subject. I enjoy the interactions with pupils and it's the job I believe I was meant to do. Covering classes is awful and I get stressed heading towards then, thinking about what hell awaits. It's especially bad when the work left for them is rubbish or doesn't last the period.

Recently, things have been getting worse. There's more a focus on attainment and I struggle to understand why we're being compared to a "virtual comparator", which is just a made-up number that we use to bash ourselves. I don't understand the politics that go on behind the scenes. I've also spent years trying to get the best lessons but doing so has meant pushing against the system. A lot of the time I've simply been told no and there's been no explanation. I need that explanation because without being told why, I fixate on it and don't let it go. I'm sometimes too blunt when talking with management about what I need to do my job and whilst my head teacher accepts that I'm autistic, I don't feel that my environment is really kitted out to make my life easier. I have a badge on my lanyard that says, "I'm autistic, not rude". My head teacher did pull me out of a whole-school training policy and create a more 1-to-1 approach that really helped me cope, so I'm grateful for that.

Parents evenings are just brutal. Multiple teachers in a big hall with loads of parents/carers and conversations and noise and smells and heat. I find it really draining to do that and I just stand in the shower when I get home and put my fingers in my ears (so relaxing). Here's the irony - I hated the online parents evenings as I couldn't engage in the back and forth rules of a conversation - it was just one-sided (all me). I longed for the face-to-face parents evenings so I could have proper conversations, but at the same time, hated the sensory overload.

I've found using a colouring book at departmental meetings helps me focus and stops me getting angry at things that don't make sense to me. Going home to my family and talking through my day with my wife, or hanging out with my kids helps. Just getting time to sit and play a particular game on my phone, and disappear into my own world for 30 minutes really helps me reset.

I'm now at the point in my life where I just can't teach anymore. I love the kids - interacting with them and teaching them, I just can't stand the rest of it. It's not the same job anymore and I need to find something else that makes me happy.

I hope you continue to enjoy teaching - it is by far one of the more rewarding jobs out there.

Hello Marian!

I am 33 and taught at a university for 10 years, but unfortunately I quit teaching shortly after getting my diagnosis at age 30. So I don’t have a whole lot of advice to give as far as what accommodations you could ask for.

What I can give is empathy, because I’ve been there. It’s a really hard, but rewarding, occupation for someone with Autism, and I applaud you for sticking with it.

Also I’m so glad your Head is supportive! That is fantastic to hear.